Pollster: Only moderate Republicans win statewide

Only moderate Republicans stand a chance of winning statewide elections in “blue state” Washington, a veteran pollster told the annual Cascade Conference of the Mainstream Republicans of Washington group.

Stuart Elway posed a question that will govern Washington’s tight race for governor over the next five months: “Can Rob McKenna thread the needle . . . to win in a blue state.”

McKenna

President Obama is a strong favorite to win Washington’s 12 electoral votes in November. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., doesn’t appear to have a tough race. But Republicans are expected to field strong candidates for several statewide offices and the Legislature.

The state’s moderate Republicans have seen their glory days come and go. One Cascade Conference participant harkened all the way back to 1968, when GOP Gov. Dan Evans was re-elected and Slade Gorton was elected attorney Ggneral.

The close of filings on Friday displayed the range of GOP candidates from moderate to far right.

The far-out flank is represented by ex-NFL tight end and Tea Party champion Clint Didier. The Eltopia, Wash., farmer ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 and filed for state land commissioner against popular Democratic incumbent Peter Goldmark.

In 2010, Didier sound like a 1960’s John Birch Society throwback, charging that the United Nations is “out to take our guns and repeal American sovereignty,” and declaring: “We need to get out of the UN and to get the UN out of the United States.”

The other end of the spectrum was heard at Mainstream. Thurston County Auditor Kim Wyman, running for secretary of state, threw out ideas about how to make elections more efficient and reach more apathetic citizens with information on how to vote.

State Rep. Maureen Walsh, R-Walla Walla, who cast a dramatic vote for marriage equality, argued: “This can be a big umbrella party. We can accept people who disagree on some issues.”

Republicans Bill Finkbeiner and Glenn Anderson promise to give veteran Democratic Lt. Governor Brad Owen a run for his money. A former State Senate GOP leader, Finkbeiner is running on a platform of decreasing partisanship in the Senate. The “lite” governor’s main job is presiding over the Legislature’s upper chamber.

The Cascade Conference did hear a bit of partisan nastiness. The campaign chief of State Senate Republicans, Brent Ludeman, took a swipe at Democratic State Sen. Brian Hatfield: “He’s been in government since he graduated from college. He’s never had a real job.”

The Republicans even tried to reestablish ties to an issue that such statewide winners as ex-Gov. (and ex-Sen) Evans, and Congressmen like Sid Morrison and the late Joel Pritchard, once identified with — the environment.

“To be successful as a Republican in this state, you must be in favor of the environment,” said State Rep. Hans Zeiger. The Mainstreaners touted such programs as the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition, co-founded by Evans and former Democratic Gov. Mike Lowry. It has channeled more than $1 billion in public and private money into land purchases.

“We have a great tradition of Theodore Roosevelt,” retiring Secretary of State Sam Reed chimed in.

The Democrats are sure to dispute all this. They will “paint Rob McKenna in the mold of Scott Walker,” said Elway, referring to the arch-conservative, union-busting Wisconsin governor. “For the Democrats, that’s not a bad strategy.”

Elway also had a very good joke to tell about Republican nominee-in-waiting Mitt Romney:

“A conservative, a liberal and a moderate walk into a bar, and the bartender says: “Hi, Mitt.”